white dress

Moonlight
slicing through the forest like
a silver knife, shedding light on the
rotting leaves that
decorate the earthen
floors of the hidden 
world behind your daily home.

During the hot hours of
daylight you work as a 
waitress, carying
fake plastic dishes caked with
strawberry slime, 
half-eatten burgers, &
empty salt packets. 
Later in the thick of the
afternoon, you go home
& wait for your lover
to bring the 
alcohol home, the special kind
he introduced to you that
dulls the pain. 
In the cool hours of the 
night, you go to bed &
do not sleep, wondering 
how you will pull yourself out of
the daily spiral you've
fallen into. 

Tonight is different. You
wake up a little past
midnight, and this time, you
stand up. Slink out of the
possesive arms of your lover
whom you don't love, but only
tolerate because you have to. Walk 
silently so as to not wake your
lover, & pull out the
travel trunk from underneath
the staircase. Open 
the rusted lock with a
bronzed key hanging from 
a silver chain around your neck. & finallly, pull
out that silky white dress.

Your mother wore this dress
when she was married. Made from
beautiful, thin silk, with a full skirt
& flowng sleeves. You slip
it on over your body and
walk outside. The 
silence of the night
screams.

Now the fireflies wink
in & out of sight,
dancing along with the
song played by the
stars, the
trees, the
faraway ocean. You 
lift your face to the wind and it
caresses your face, telling you
everything will be
okay. You 
look to the moon, and she
nods at you, telling you to
be strong. You
sift the soft earth
through your fingers, and it tells you
it gets better. For the
first time in your life,
you know what it feels like
to be calm.